1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional-information reconstructing apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a three-dimensional-information reconstructing apparatus, method and program for reconstructing three-dimensional information, such as the three-dimensional configuration of an object or the distance to an object, by acquiring the parallax between images captured by a plurality of photographing means.
2. Description of the Related Art
Three-dimensional-information reconstructing techniques for measuring the three-dimensional configuration of an object or the three-dimensional position of an obstacle have been developed so far as techniques indispensable for realization of auto-working robots or auto-running vehicles. In particular, three-dimensional-information reconstructing apparatuses, which reconstruct three-dimensional information concerning a target space, based on stereoscopic views captured by a plurality of TV cameras, have been widely utilized since they provide images of high resolution, they are superior in measuring accuracy, and they are inexpensive.
For instance, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-163639 discloses, at page 7 and in FIG. 4, a method for limiting the range of searches utilizing the fact that an object is positioned on or above a reference plane (e.g., a road or floor) appearing in each captured image, thereby realizing high-rate three-dimensional information reconstruction. This method is known as a method for reconstructing three-dimensional information from the parallax between an arbitrary projected point on a reference image selected from images captured by a plurality of cameras, and the corresponding projected point on each of the other images.
To search images for accurately corresponding points thereon, it is necessary to prevent occurrence of erroneous correspondence between a certain projected point and a projected point having a brightness pattern similar to that of the really corresponding projected point. To this end, it is necessary to set a large window for computing the degree of similarity. However, no sufficient studies have yet been performed on a method for reconstructing three-dimensional information at high speed by efficiently computing the degree of similarity.
Further, to apply the above-described technique to auto-working robots or auto-running vehicles, a function for receiving still image data from a plurality of cameras in a time-series manner, and performing real-time reconstruction of three-dimensional information is required. However, no sufficient studies have yet been performed on a three-dimensional-information reconstructing apparatus capable of such real-time processing.
As described above, there are no conventional three-dimensional-information reconstructing apparatuses that efficiently compute the degree of similarity between a projected point on a reference image and the corresponding projected point on another image.
Also, there are no conventional three-dimensional-information reconstructing apparatuses that perform real-time processing of still image data sent from cameras in a time-series manner, thereby reconstructing three-dimensional information.